Происхождение пневмоподвески

Зарождение пневматической подвески можно проследить до середины 19 века., and its application and development have gone through a wide range of applications from mechanical equipment isolation to the automotive field. ‌

The birth of air suspension was not originally for automobiles, but for mechanical equipment vibration isolation in the mid-19th century. Until 1947, the United States first used air suspension on Pullman cars. Subsequently, countries such as Italy, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan also conducted applied research on automotive air suspension. In the 1950s, air suspension began to be applied to heavy-duty trucks, buses, small cars, and railway vehicles. Almost all high-end buses abroad use air suspension, and the proportion of heavy-duty trucks using air suspension has reached over 80%. The application of air suspension in light vehicles is also rapidly increasing. ‌

The advantage of air suspension is that it can adjust the softness and hardness of shock absorbers, including soft, normal, and hard states, which can be controlled by the driver through the control knob inside the car. In addition, air suspension can also adjust the chassis height, which enables it to provide good comfort and stability in different road conditions. Однако, compared to traditional suspensions, air suspensions have a relatively higher probability and frequency of malfunctions due to their complex structure. But with the continuous improvement of technological level, these problems have been well solved, and at the same time, the application of car models is becoming more and more widespread. ‌

The early application of air suspension technology also included in airplanes and heavy trucks, mainly used for leveling suspension and reducing weight. In the 1990s, Dunlop was the first to develop electronically controlled air suspension, known as the ECAS system. The introduction of this system enabled air suspension to truly achieve active function, and the first mass-produced car to be equipped with it was the 1993 Land Rover Range Rover. ‌

With the development of technology, air suspension systems have been integrated with other chassis systems such as braking systems, steering systems, traction control systems, и т. д., forming intelligent chassis systems, further improving the handling and stability of automobiles. For example, AIRMATIC technology, introduced by Mercedes Benz in 1998, utilizes the increasing rigidity of compressed air within an air spring to provide nearly ideal dynamic elastic properties. This not only improves passenger comfort but also protects the road. ‌

In summary, although the origin of air suspension was not for automotive design, it has become one of the important technologies for improving car comfort and handling stability through continuous development and application.